Villa Incognito

Imagine that there are American MIAs who chose to remain missing after the Vietnam War. Imagine that there is a family in which four generations of strong, alluring women have shared a mysterious connection to an outlandish figure from Japanese folklore. Imagine just those things (don't even try to imagine the love story) and you'll have a foretaste of Tom Robbins's eighth and perhaps most beautifully crafted novel--a work as timeless as myth yet as topical as the latest international threat. On one level, this is a book about identity, masquerade and disguise--about the false mustache of the worldo--but neither the mists of Laos nor the smog of Bangkok, neither the overcast of Seattle nor the fog of San Francisco, neither the murk of the intelligence community nor the mummery of the circus can obscure the linguistic phosphor that illuminates the pages of Villa Incognito. A female fan once wrote to Tom Robbins: Your books make me think, they make me laugh, they make me horny and they make me aware of the wonder of everything in life.o Villa Incognito will surely arouse a similar response in many readers, for in its lusty, amusing way it both celebrates existence and challenges our ideas about it. To say much more about a novel as fresh and surprising as Villa Incognito would run the risk of diluting the sheer fun of reading it. As his dedicated readers worldwide know full well, it's best to climb aboard the Tom Robbins tilt-a-whirl, kiss preconceptions and sacred cows goodbye and simply enjoy the ride.

"Your country seems to have everything and yet almost nothing. It's unbelievable. In that vast, beautiful, powerful land of unprecedented abundance live some of the most unhappy people on earth."
Northwest based Tom Robbins is the clown prince of fiction. A descendant of the Beats, he's much funnier and less annoying than they are and though he has some of Vonnegut's antic, subversive spirit, he's not as preachy. He is a genre unto himself. Here are some ingredients in the spicy gumbo that is his 8th novel: Southeast Asia, a man with an extra large scrotum, a beast from Japanese folklore, 9/11, American MIAs, drug running, colorful analogies (breasts compared to "the headlamps of an approaching kiddie car") the circus, and, of course, sex, about which Robbins has maybe the most whimsically healthy attitude of any living author. A great book for the Robbins fan or novice.

My first experience with Tom Robbins, and a very positive one. This book was playful, philisophical, funny, witty, and very imaginative. Being unfamiliar with his writing style, I was suprised to see all the plot elements melt together so smoothly.